Archived News:

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Remedy confirms recent indications of plans for a PC edition of Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, saying thriller sequel is coming to Windows on May 22nd with "high-resolution graphics and enhanced PC features." This is now part of a big promotion:"In celebration of the impending launch, Remedy is offering gamers a motherload of discounts on Alan Wake. Pre-orders of American Nightmare on Steam or GOG will receive 10% off their purchase. For purchasers of the original Alan Wake, an additional 15% off is available! Alan Wake is now part of Steam’s Midweek Madness (only 72 hours!) available at 50% off. This offer is also available on GOG. Alan Wake’s American Nightmare will go on sale in retail shortly after through Nordic Games." Here's word on the game:

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is a standalone spin-off adventure featuring a thrilling pulp action story mode and an all new “Fight till Dawn” arcade mode. American Nightmare will shine a new light on the world of Wake while appealing to fans and newcomers alike.

The single player campaign comes from the darkest corners of the ‘Night Springs’, a Twilight Zone inspired fiction. American Nightmare is an exaggerated and gritty rendering of that world – where the horrors of reality have the all too easy habit of coming true. When Wake becomes stuck in the alternate shadowed world of Night Springs, he must hunt down his evil double, Mr. Scratch, to find answers. A supernatural serial killer, Scratch is fixated on Wake’s wife, Alice, and even more horribly, Wake’s demise. To survive and thrive in the darkest of nights, Wake must learn to control reality itself and unravel the secrets of Night Springs with a trusty flashlight by his side and whatever weapon he can find.

The Hitman Facebook Page announces plans for an announcement, saying: "Heads up! A MAJOR announcement is coming up on MAY 10th. Don't miss this!" This is also reflected on the Hitman Website. In what may be related news, Gamer's Hell notes the latest print issue of Game Informer Magazine has an ad for "Hitman: Sniper Challenge, which is available for those who pre-order Hitman Absolution via GameStop," saying this will include a replayable sniper mission, an exclusive rifle with upgrades, and "awesome prize packages for top snipers."

The Kickstarter Page for Grim Dawn has word that Crate Entertainment's fundraising campaign for their upcoming action/RPG has succeeded, as the game has passed its $280,000 goal with 10 days to go. The info on the page includes an outline of how any additional funds they collect will be spent: "If we exceed our goal, all of the extra money will be used to bring more full-time people onto Grim Dawn and expand our art outsourcing. That means more content, more quickly. The ultimate goal would be for us to bring all of our part-time people on full-time and hopefully even hire a few more people. Then we would be totally rocking and well on our way to making Grim Dawn all that it can be!"

Here is a new Kickstarter Campaign for Carmageddon: Reincarnation, an upcoming return to this game of road rage planned by Stainless Games. The project is looking to raise $400,000 and has picked up over $72,000 already. Here's word on what they are scheming:

Carmageddon: Reincarnation is a re-boot of everything that made the original games such a blast to play. The new game will be inspired by the classic environments, cars, drivers and power-ups from the original, but dragged screaming and kicking into the current state of the rendered art. And of course, there will be a bunch of brand new STUFF too, including true rag-doll pedestrians and physics-based power-ups that let you mess with their limbs whilst wiping away the tears - of laughter!

Multiplayer was the hidden-treasure of Carmageddon back in the dark days of LAN parties, but will now be able to be enjoyed by almost all of our players, thanks to the entire planet going online since then. The single player game will be brilliant too, thanks to demented opponents with demented A.I. brains made from demented code written by demented programmers.

Following recent indications that the creators of Space Quest ("The Two Guys from Andromeda") were getting the band back together, a Kickstarter Page has kicked up for the "Two Guys SpaceVenture." In the Kickstarter style, this is accompanied by a huge wall of text about their plans, how you can help, and what you will get in return. The are looking to raise a half-million dollars, and so far have collected a little under ten percent of that total. Thanks nin.

Redeploying with an arsenal of content unlike any in franchise history, Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3’s first downloadable “Collection” arrives stockpiled with not only four Multiplayer/Survival Mode Maps, but two Special Ops Missions—the first time Call of Duty® has ever made Special Ops downloadable online.

Armed with just this one content pack, players can choose between heading to a militarized Central Park in Liberation, destroying scenic vistas in a seaside Italian getaway in Piazza, raining glass on New York passersby from 70-stories-up in Overwatch, and battling beside a downed Air Force One in Black Box.

As if that breadth of multiplayer variety wasn’t enough, fans of Special Ops can hop aboard snowmobiles to infiltrate a diamond mine in Black Ice or head to India, where Negotiator will leave the fate of hostages in their hands.

In a class of its own with half-a-dozen forms of content, Modern Warfare® 3’s first downloadable “Collection” offers a range of combat and co-op the likes of which has never been seen before.

The new free Portal 2 update titled "Perpetual Testing Initiative" is now available on Steam!

The "Perpetual Testing Initiative" allows players to easily create, share, and play Portal 2 puzzles. The Initiative comes with a simplified puzzle maker that allows that creation of mind-bending puzzles without ever leaving the game.

The puzzle maker can directly publish maps to the Steam Workshop where users can browse, vote on, and select to play them. Selected puzzles will automatically be downloaded and installed inside Portal 2.

This announcement heralds the release of Warlock - Master of the Arcane. They have details on where to buy the game as well as a reminder about the playable demo on Steam. Here's word on this turn-based strategy game that uses the setting from the Majesty series:

Control one of three different factions, learn dozens of powerful spells and command a vast array of troop types as you set out to make your wizard the one true ruler of Ardania. You must carefully plan your expansion and economy to build and support the armies you create. And don't forget to harvest mana; you will need to cast enchantments on friend and foe alike if you want to defeat your enemies and hold back the hordes of wandering monsters.

This update has details on a new patch that's gone live in World of Tanks, updating Wargaming.net's MMO third-person shooter to version 7.3 (here's the announcement translated into European). The new version adds new maps, including the game's first set in Asia, and offers some substitutions and additions to the Soviet line of heavy tanks. "These new machines should give players a taste for big and powerful heavies," said World of Tanks Producer Mike Jivets. "With the help of the upcoming battle arenas, the game will get a fresh look from both a visual and tactical point of view."

On the heels of the World of Tanks update mentioned above, Wargaming.net has also rolled out a new trailer for World of Warplanes, unveiling the heavy fighters that will populate the skies in their upcoming aerial combat game. "If you want speed and adrenaline, you will probably go for lighter fighters, whereas heavies provide greater firepower," said World of Warplanes Project Manager, Alex Zezulin. "Knowing the strengths of your heavy fighter will give you the feel of devastating power under your total control." Continue here to read the full story.

This trailer offers a first look at gameplay from Dark Blood (which also seems to be presented as Darkblood and DarkBlood, depending on where it's written), an upcoming "free-to-play, high-speed, side-scrolling, hack 'n slash arcade brawler" from developer JCR Soft and publisher Outspark. This kicks off a series of daily clips that you can follow through the game's Facebook page. Word is: "Today, the company released the first gameplay reveal for North America and Europe as part of its exciting Dark Blood Combat Training series showcasing the game's classes, subclasses, bosses and dungeons. Each weekday through launch, the Dark Blood Facebook community will be treated to action-packed skill videos culminating in kill-or-be-killed PvP and Tag Matches that are sure to blow fans away." They are currently accepting signups for the game's closed beta test on the game's official website.

The Kickstarter Page for "Jane Jensen's Moebius and Pinkerton Road Studio by Jane Jensen" shows this adventure game project has achieved its funding goal of $300,000 with 11 days remaining. This means they will be producing two adventure games, the first of which will be the already revealedMoebius. This also puts them closer to their long-term goal to eventually create more Gabriel Knight games.

GfK Chart-Track has the list of the 20 bestselling full-price PC entertainment titles in the U.K for the week ending May 5th. Though Football Manager 2012 retains the top spot, there's significant movement this week, as TERA joins the chart at number three and Sniper Elite V2 debuts at number two. The all-platforms charts also reflects a strong launch for Sniper Elite V2, which enters in the number one spot.

Gamasutra - How long before the Kickstarter bubble bursts?We are still in the early days of our Kickstarter relationship, the early days of falling in love. Everything our partner does is wonderful. We gloss over the risks, we ignore the downsides, because the glory of falling in love is everything.

I think we have about six months left of that period. Towards the end of this year, some Kickstarter projects are going to start slipping. Some will see their teams collapse amidst bicker recriminations. Some pledgers are going to start getting very angry.

Here are some best wishes for WalterEgo, as it's my favorite brother's birthday today. Today is also V-E day, celebrating the Allied victory in Europe in World War II, thought this is not something that gets talked about anymore, probably thanks to my bro's birthday hogging all the attention.